Aldreth Castle, also known historically as Alrehede Castle, was a wooden fortification built in the village of Aldreth, Cambridgeshire, England, around 1071.
History
Aldreth Castle was built following the Norman Conquest, after William the Conqueror subdued the resistance movement of Hereward the Wake around the Isle of Ely in 1071. The castle was a wooden fortification, intended to control on end of the Aldreth causeway running through the marshes. During the civil war known as the Anarchy, the Bishop of Ely undertook repairs to the castle in 1140. The fate of the castle is unknown; being positioned on valuable high ground in the marshes, it may have been built over in the later medieval period.
Bibliography
- Cambridgeshire County Council. (2015). The Historic Towns of Cambridgeshire: Extensive Urban Survey: Ely, East Cambridgeshire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridgeshire County Council.
- Miller, Edward. (1951). The Abbey & Bishopric of Ely: The Social History of an Ecclesiastical Estate from the Tenth Century to the Early Fourteenth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Pugh, R.B. (ed) (1953). Victoria County History of Cambridgeshire and the Isle of Ely, Volume 4. London, UK: Victoria County History.
Attribution
The text of this page is licensed under under CC BY-NC 2.0.